Hansen v. SkyWest Airlines

844 F.3d 914, 2016 WL 7387139
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedDecember 21, 2016
DocketNo. 15-8112
StatusPublished
Cited by83 cases

This text of 844 F.3d 914 (Hansen v. SkyWest Airlines) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hansen v. SkyWest Airlines, 844 F.3d 914, 2016 WL 7387139 (10th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

McKAYi Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff David Hansen filed this suit against his former employer, Defendant SkyWest Airlines, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2000e-17, for sex-based hostile work environment, disparate treatment, quid pro quo harassment, coworker harassment, retaliation, and for intentional infliction of emotional distress under state law. The district court granted summary judgment for SkyWest with respect to all of his claims. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we reverse in part and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment- on the disparate treatment claim, which Mr. Hansen did not contest on appeal.

FACTS

Mr. Hansen worked for Defendant Sky-West Airlines from 2003 until 2011, when he was fired. Mr. Hansen is gay. He claims he was sexually harassed by several of his supervisors and coworkers over the eight years he worked for SkyWest. Mr. Hansen and SkyWest hotly dispute the facts surrounding his time at SkyWest.but, because the.case was resolved against him on summary judgment, we present the facts in the light most favorable to Mr. Hansen.1

Mr. Hansen spent his first four years with SkyWest as a customer-service agent at the Salt Lake City International Airport before transferring to the Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming in December 2007. According to Mr. Hansen, the sexual harassment began in Salt Lake. Mr. Hansen alleges that “even early in [his] career at SkyWest” he had “supervisors and others” proposition him for sex and “toueh[ ] [him] in ways that were extremely unwelcome.” 2 A435. Although there is not much factual detail for this four-year span, there is at least one specific incident of sexual harassment in the record: Mr. Hansen testified in a deposition that in 2004 a supervisor, Brian Johansen, who is also gay, “pushed himself against” Mr. Hansen and “comment[ed] about [his] srhell,” and then “followed up with an e-mail.” A341-42. Mr. Hansen did not recall what more was said, but he maintained that “it was sexual in nature and there was no doubting it was sexual in nature.” Id.

At some point'in 2004, Mr. Hansen’s psychotherapist- wrote an undated letter [919]*919“to whom it may concern” about Mr. Hansen’s psychological wellbeing. According to this letter, Mr. Hansen presented with symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The letter warned that Mr. Hansen’s “condition could be triggered by employment issues such as discrimination, conflict, and a sense that he is being taken advantage of.” A400. Mr. Hansen delivered this letter to SkyWest’s human-resources department, and both Mr. Hansen and his therapist met with SkyWest’s human-resources department in Salt Lake City several times over the next “three or four years” to inform them that “any sexual touching or other sexual misconduct” might trigger his “PTSD like symptoms.” A436. Later, Mr. Hansen requested accommodations for his PTSD under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which SkyWest provided; Mr. Hansen could take a “timeout” at work when he felt threatened or was under considerable stress.

In December of 2007, Mr. Hansen transferred from Salt Lake to SkyWest’s Jackson, Wyoming, station where he worked as a “ticket counter/gate agent.” A436. According to Mr. Hansen, his coworker, John Robinson, and their supervisor, Lynn Ka-toa, both of whom are gay, began sexually harassing him soon after he transferred. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Katoa were also dating. Mr, Hansen claims Mr. Robinson “began to rub against [him] with his genitals” at work. A436. Mr. Hansen testified in his deposition that Mr. Robinson rubbed himself against Mr. Hansen several times and that, on one particular occasion,. Mr. Robinson declared, “I love it when Lynn [Katoa] gives it to me hard.” A321. Mr, Hansen also alleges that Mr. Katoa similarly rubbed his genitals across Mr. Hansen’s back and asked, “Oops. Did that.get you excited?” A311.

In April 2008, Mr. Hansen, Mr. Katoa, and Mr. Robinson were scheduled to travel to Denver to attend training. Mr, Katoa was responsible for arranging accommodations; he booked one room for the three men to share. Mr. Hansen told the. Jackson station manager he was uncomfortable sharing a room with Mr. Katoa and Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Hansen was permitted to have his own room. (Mr. Hansen also reported to the station manager that Mr. Robinson and Mr, Katoa were touching him in ways that he found unwelcome and had engaged him in unwelcome “sex talk.” A552.) Apparently, this arrangement upset Mr. Katoa, who complained to the station manager. Mr. Katoa and Mr. Robinson later “pushed” Mr. Hansen “into the corner of the supervisor’s office,” and demanded to know, ‘Why won’t you stay with us in the hotel room in Denver? I don’t understand it. There’s a problem. Why did you request a special accommodations not to stay in the hotel room with us? Are you afraid?” A315-16; A311-12.

Sometime in the. spring of 2008, Mr. Robinson was promoted and became Mr. Hansen’s supervisor. After he was promoted, Mr. Robinson “made it very clear” that Mr., Hansen had to “suck his dick” or Mr. Hansen would be out of a job. A339-40. Mr. Hansen claims that Mr. Robinson said: “If you. suck my dick, like I do Lynn Katoa’s, then you’ll be promoted to a supervisor or higher just like I was. That’s how I made this position.” A297. According to Mr, Hansen, Mr. Katoa had also alluded to Mr. Robinson’s promotion as a reward for performing sexual favors for,-Mr. Ka-toa.

Mr. Hansen further alleges that Mr. Robinson and Mr. Katoa harassed him several more times during the spring of 2008, including some demonstrations of hostility for. reporting sexual misconduct in the workplace. Sometime around May 2008, Mr. Katoa pressed, his shoulder against Mr. Hansen’s shoulder and said, “I under[920]*920stand that you’ve lodged a complaint with [the station manager] that I made you feel uncomfortable. What about this makes you feel uncomfortable?” A312. Later that month, Mr. Katoa again questioned Mr. Hansen about a complaint he had filed: he put his hand on Mr. Hansen’s back and said, “I’m upset. I’ve understood that you filed a grievance against [another employee] for her showing another supervisor’s penis on the phone. Why would you do that? Why don’t you just join us?” A313. Later, Mr. Robinson, in reference to the same grievance, pushed Mr. Hansen and said, “I know you were the one who filed the grievance.... You need to get along with us here and you need to let this roll off your back.” A322.

A few months later, in the summer of 2008, Mr. Robinson asked Mr. Hansen, “Doesn’t my butt look good?” and pretended to fall onto Mr. Hansen. A322-23. Mr. Hansen claims he told Mr. Robinson he felt uncomfortable and attempted to walk away, but that Mr. Robinson followed him and asked: “Why are you not helping us to push the gay agenda? ... You are gay. Why are you not going along with this?” A323. Mr. Hansen was “very upset” over this incident and he left to speak with a supervisor. Id. When Mr. Hansen returned, Mr.- Robinson said, “[The station manager]’s gonna be gone, and they’re gonna promote me because I’m doing exactly what I do, and that is provide—or get along with them. Do these things, and just watch.” Id.

In November 2008, Mr. Hansen returned home to Salt Lake City for Thanksgiving.

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844 F.3d 914, 2016 WL 7387139, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hansen-v-skywest-airlines-ca10-2016.